Protection Island is like a city of seabirds and seals

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Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge, Site 38 from “Olympic Loop” of Audubon Washington’s Great Washington State Birding Trail.

Location: Near the mouth of Discovery Bay in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, west of Port Townsend, Jefferson County

Habitat: 364-acre island managed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; home to 70 percent of Puget Sound’s nesting seabirds. Closed to public; birds and marine life viewable from private boat or scheduled public boat tours.

Best seasons for birding: Spring through fall; scheduled tours next four Saturdays.

Birds commonly seen: State’s largest colonies of nesting rhinoceros auklets and glaucous-winged gulls, plus abundance of double-crested cormorants and pigeon guillemots, and a few tufted puffins April to August. Pacific loons, long-tailed ducks and ancient murrelets forage in refuge waters. Bonus: harbor and elephant seals. About 1,000 harbor seals depend upon the island for a pupping and rest area.